Tottenham still looked ‘fragile’ in their win over Manchester United, claims former Chelsea star Frank Leboeuf, who is not sure the victory is a turning point for the club.
Spurs picked up a morale-boosting 1-0 win over the Red Devils on Sunday, with James Maddison returning from injury to score the only goal of the game.
Back-to-back victories for Ange Postecoglou’s side have seen them climb to 12th in the Premier League table, not where they want to be, but a much healthier state than they were in a couple of weeks ago.
The injury nightmare that they have been through in recent months appears to be easing, with not only Maddison but goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario returning to the starting XI.
Leboeuf was impressed with the Italian stopper, but his performance demonstrated how open Spurs were at the back, even against a blunt Manchester United team.
Alejandro Garnacho, in particular, had a fabulous chance to score for the Red Devils but fired his shot over the bar from inside the box in the first half.
The Frenchman reckons Spurs are still showing signs of weakness, partly due to ongoing injuries to the likes of Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, and should not be getting too excited about their form just yet.
‘Vicario is back and has been very good today,’ Leboeuf told ESPN FC. ‘He’s been under criticism a lot during the beginning of the season and he’s come back and had a huge impact today. But it’s still fragile.
‘If Vicario was the man of the match it’s because Manchester United created dangers.
‘I found, because of injuries and absences, I found Spurs very vulnerable at the back. If Garnacho had been a little bit more precise they would have been 1-1 at half-time and maybe it would have been a different game.
‘You can say, “we had a very good game, we feel better, now we can start from there and it’s going to be a new era for us this season.” No, no no, it’s still very fragile from Spurs.’
Postecoglou was delighted to have Maddison and Vicario available again, hailing the pair’s impact on their return to the starting XI.
‘It was enormous to have them back, not just for me, but for the players, for the staff, the fans,’ Postecoglou said.
‘They are top players, and we have missed them, even though the other guys have done everything in their power to contribute. There is a reason the experienced players are there and today they really stood up for us.’
Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert also returned and came off the bench, with Postecoglou adding to the BBC: ‘Even the guys coming on, Brennan and Wilson, great to get them back into it.’
The Australian did, however, confirm that three players suffered knocks in the win over United, although he doesn’t expect them to be serious injuries.
Son Heung-min, Kevin Danso and Rodrigo Bentancur were all taken off due to minor problems.
‘He got a knock on his knee,’ Postecoglou said of Danso. ‘Him, Sonny and Rodri all got sort of knocks. I don’t think it is anything significant. But the beauty of it now is we can actually get them to recover instead of trying to patch them up and throw them out [onto the pitch] again [in] midweek.’
